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Legacy Stories: Gerry Battersby

What is your legacy story?

I came to Albion because my family has a history in Albion dating back to my grandma in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s. I was very close with her and she thought highly of the school; that made a big impression on me.

What do you like about Albion College?

I think that the University of Michigan, and other good academic institutions have their merits, but I genuinely enjoy the small class sizes at Albion, especially in the honors college and pre-professional institutes. Many graduate schools, companies, and organizations speak highly of Albion alumni due to their ability to make presentations and communicate their ideas clearly and effectively, and I think this is a direct result of the continued interaction that occurs between students and professors in classes numbering less than 20.

How did you get started with lacrosse?

I was a late bloomer when it came to Lacrosse. I was a baseball player up until 8th grade, and it wasn't until my freshman year of high school that I really began to fall in love with it.

Our high school was a football powerhouse, and we routinely ran our practices like a college team, sending kids to big time college football teams every year. I think that a lot of the discipline I had in training for lacrosse was influenced by that football atmosphere of competition and excellence.

I ended up being selected to the All State team in high school, and spent most of my summers from there on playing for a travel team called Team Total, which had dozens of tremendous athletes.

How did you end up at Albion?

I looked at a lot of different schools all over the Midwest and Northeast, and actually didn't get contacted by Albion until very late in the recruiting process. Albion at the time was one of three NCAA lacrosse teams in Michigan, and was by far the superior academic school, which was a big factor in my decision.

Probably most important was the fact that my grandma had grown up in Albion. She graduated from college all the way back in 1942, and I was probably closer to her than anyone in my life.

She loved Albion and really sold it to me, and I have grown to love it too.